Leadership and communication
Team communication
The way team members share information, hand off work and raise problems, from daily huddles and chart notes to open talk about concerns inside the practice.
Team communication is the way team members exchange information. The AHRQ TeamSTEPPS program, built for healthcare teams, calls communication one of the four essential skills central to safe, efficient, and patient-centered care.
In a dental office it covers daily huddles, hand-offs between the front desk and clinical staff, notes in the chart and talk about problems. Clear communication links to active listening, feedback and shared soft skills.
A morning huddle is one common tool. TeamSTEPPS comes from the hospital setting, and offices adapt its ideas in different ways. This entry is a general definition. It does not promise results for any practice.